My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friends for tabling these amendments, which cover issues concerning the statutory code of practice that governs the exercise of the power to seize travel documents.
To take the last point first, my noble friend Lady Hussein-Ece asked what was expected of charities, rather than just turning up at the airport and finding themselves victims, if you like, of these powers. I shall take that back and ask whether that is suitable, but at the moment I have no knowledge of a particular government draft for charities. But I shall take that back—and I take the point.
As your Lordships will be aware, a public consultation on the draft code of practice for officers exercising functions under Schedule 1 was launched on 18 December and closed last week, on 30 January. We continue to review and consider the consultation responses and any required amendments to the code. In summary, responses have been broadly positive concerning the extent to which, for example, the code appropriately describes who is subject to the new power, the test for exercising the power, how information is provided to people subject to the power and the safeguards against repeated use of the power. Respondents have commented on issues such as the need for an authorisation process and the time this might take, the availability of legal aid for individuals subject to the power and whether the specified police ranks for the authorisation and review functions are set too high. We have, of course, also considered the contributions of noble Lords and Members of the other place to debates on this chapter of the Bill throughout its consideration in the context of that consultation.
We agree with a number of respondents on issues such as the availability of legal aid and clarifying whether family members may access temporary support arrangements, if required. We will revise the code to reflect these points and other additional points that we consider appropriate. A summary of the consultation responses will be published in due course.
I recognise my noble friends’ intention, in tabling Amendment 5, to require the police to receive training so that they may distinguish between individuals travelling for humanitarian purposes and individuals travelling for involvement in terrorism-related activity. That point was made by the noble Baroness, Lady Smith.
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As previously outlined, there is a clear threshold which must be met before a police officer can exercise the power in Schedule 1. The police officer’s decision is subject to authorisation and review. The Government do not consider that this Bill introduces any new risk of prosecution for charities or non-governmental organisations operating in the humanitarian field. It is clear that the intention of the power is to disrupt the travel of those who support or assist individuals with acts of terror. The important point is that we would not wish to encourage potential foreign fighters to leave the UK under the pretence of providing humanitarian aid, and we do not believe that the police require specific training to identify and distinguish individuals travelling for humanitarian purposes.
We fully understand some charities’ concern that they or their staff may be liable for prosecution for a terrorist offence if, in the course of their humanitarian efforts, they pay money to a designated or proscribed
group, as mentioned in Committee by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead. However, we are not aware of any cases of genuine aid workers being prosecuted in the UK for involvement in terrorism-related activity. It is important to note that prosecution would take place only if there was sufficient evidence that an offence had been committed, and if the prosecuting authorities considered it in the public interest to do so.
The noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, outlined the problems of the breadth of the definition of terrorism in respect of gate-keepers specifically. I accept that there are issues in those regards but I do not think that they are addressed by the amendment. As I said before, in respect of gate-keepers in various countries, we are very concerned that no aid should go to those gate-keepers if they are terrorist organisations. There is a danger that that could happen. I submit to your Lordships that this legislation is clearly directed at individuals involved with acts of terror, and not any other legitimate activity.
Amendments 6 and 7 would require the code of practice to deal with,
“other relevant legislation (including the Equality Act 2010)”,
and require officers exercising functions under Schedule 1 to “record the performance of” these functions. The code of practice already makes reference to other legislation where relevant, including the Equality Act 2010. Officers will already be familiar—this relates to the point made by my noble friend Lady Ludford—with their duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the code reiterates the duty that officers are under,
“to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; to advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and to take steps to foster good relations between those persons”.
The code of practice requires the police to monitor the use of this power and,
“consider in particular whether there is any evidence that it is being exercised on the basis of stereotyped images or inappropriate generalisations”.
They must also review whether the records—so this is recorded—
“reveal any trends or patterns which give cause for concern, and if so take appropriate action to address this”.
The Government fully recognise the concern of the House about the need for appropriate oversight and reporting arrangements. This is why the Government have tabled an amendment to extend the remit of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation to cover the power to seize travel documents in Part 1 of the Bill. We will consider that amendment later this week. In addition, the Government have committed to publish an annual report on the use of disruptive and investigative powers, and we intend to cover the new travel document seizure power in future reports.
On the basis of this explanation, I hope that your Lordships will feel reassured about the exercise of these powers and, accordingly, I invite the noble Baroness to withdraw the amendment.